Reading the Sorcerer's Stone
by Seabass4supernatural
Summary: NOT SLASH Harry and his friends are sent to the room of requirement to read a book about Harry's first year. I'm aware that it's been done before, but I've always wanted to write one of these. Please read and review, this is my first Harry Potter fic
1. Innocent

**I do not own Harry Potter or any of it's characters. That privilege belongs to J. K. Rowling. **

**Prologue **

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were in the library flipping through books like mad. Harry was in his fourth year of Hogwarts, and had decided, the previous night, to use Cedric Diggory's hint about the dragon egg he had received at the end of the first task in the Triwizard Tournament.

Harry had discovered, to his utter mortification, that he had to think of a way to breathe underwater for an hour in order to find and retrieve some "stolen treasure" located somewhere in the Black Lake. The trio now had to, thanks to Harry's procrastination, hunt for a book that would allow him to breathe under water for an hour. Unfortunately, the search wasn't exactly going well…

'SLAP!' "OW! Hermione!" Harry exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head, scowling. "What the hell was that for?" He looked over to Ron for assistance.

"Don't expect any sympathy from me, jackass. You told us you'd figured it out weeks ago. Are you _stupid_, Harry? 'Cause, honestly, that's the only explanation I can think of that explains why in hell you've taken this long to actually look into Cedric's clue," Ron ranted. "I swear, it's like you have a _death wish_ sometimes, Harry."

"Ronald, that's enough. Arguing isn't going to help Harry win the task. Perhaps training him to not procrastinate would, but seeing as it's not Harry's style…" Harry cut her off.

"You know I'm right here, right?" he said, as he waved his left hand in the air

"_Good_!" Ron said, glaring at the smaller boy. "Maybe we can actually get the message through that thick skull of yours, Potter!"

Harry glared at Ron, but before he could say anything, there was a blinding flash of light, and the library disappeared from sight. Harry felt as if he was being squeezed through a small tube, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't think, but before he could panic at the feeling of suffocation, the unpleasant sensation ended when he felt his feet touch land again.

When Harry's eyes opened, he noticed he was in a large room. It was around half the size of the Great Hall, and full of numerous different couches and comfortable looking armchairs. He looked around. The walls were comprised of large grey stone bricks and were decorated with various tapestries of famous witches and wizards. Harry recognized Merlin, Grindelwald, Dumbledore, The Founders, and quite a few others. "_Where the hell am I?_" Harry asked himself quietly.

There was another flash of bright light and a crowd of people appeared, spread out across the room. He analyzed the faces in the crowd; Harry noticed Ron, Hermione, the rest of the Weasleys, including Charlie and Bill, Neville, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Victor Krum, Cedric, Fleur Delacour, Cornelius Fudge, Professor Lupin, Cho Chang, a pretty woman with spiky, pink hair and a face shaped like a heart, a tall bald black wizard in blue robes, a middle-aged woman with grey hair, navy blue eyes, and a monocle, who wore expensive-looking dark grey robes, Severus Snape, and to his disgust, a fat woman with short curly brown hair, whose face reminded Harry strongly of an old toad, the woman was wearing disgusting pink robes, a maroon cardigan to match, and a large, nasty smirk, and last, Harry saw Draco Malfoy wearing his usual sneer.

There was one last bright flash of light and a man with long, matted black hair, ripped dirty robes, and confused grey eyes appeared at Harry's feet. Harry froze at the sight of the man. "Sirius!" Harry exclaimed, running towards his godfather, and throwing his arms around the bewildered man.

"Harry," Sirius said warmly. "It's great to see you, pup, but where the hell-?" Sirius was cut off by Fudge.

"HARRY, GET AWAY FROM THAT MAN!" Fudge roared, like many others, pulling his wand from his pocket, but before anyone could curse Sirius, Dumbledore put a shield charm around Sirius and Harry.

"No one is to harm Sirius Black! Am I understood?" he said in a stern voice, a fierce look in his eye.

"But-but Dumbledore…" Fudge began. "This man is a…"

Remus cut him off. "Does anyone have any Verituserum?" he asked.

"What's-?" Harry began, pulling away from his godfather's embrace.

"Truth serum, one drop of it would have the Dark Lord, himself, spill his darkest secrets," Snape answered shortly.

Out of nowhere, a small vial of clear liquid appeared, floating in midair. The toad-lady grabbed it. "Here, Minister, I have some for you," she said in a high, falsely-sweet girlish voice.

Fudge, muttering to himself furiously, took the vial. "Sirius Black, please step forward," he said curtly.

Dumbledore took down the shield charm, and nodded at Sirius. Warily he walked over to Fudge, who uncorked the vial.

"Alright, let's get this over with," Fudge said. "Amelia, could you interrogate him for me?"

The grey-haired witch with the monocle took the vial, stepped forward, and kneeled in front of Sirius, before handing him the vial. "Drink this, please," she asked politely.

Sirius thanked her, before downing the contents the vial. He shuddered as he swallowed.

"Ready?" Amelia asked.

Sirius nodded.

"Okay. You are Sirius Black?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Were you, at any time, a spy for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

"No," he answered. There were shocked gasps from many people in the room.

"That doesn't mean…" Fudge began, but fell silent at Amelia's glare. "I apologize Madam Bones, please proceed."

"Did you betray the Potter's location to You-Know-Who or any of his followers?"

"No, I did not."

"Were you, at any time, a Death Eater or in any way employed in You-Know-Who's regime?"

"No."

"Did you kill Peter Pettigrew?"

"No ma'am, but I certainly intended to."

"See? I told you this man was…" once again, Fudge was silenced by Amelia's cold stare.

"And why did you want to kill Mr. Pettigrew?"

"Because, I wanted to make the little rat pay for betraying Lily and James's location to Voldemort."

Madame Bones raised her eyebrows. "Is-is Pettigrew alive? Are you saying Peter Pettigrew's alive?"

"Yes, and he'd been living as a family's pet rat from the time I was imprisoned until around a year ago when he escaped."

"Clarify, please."

"Peter's an illegal animagus."

Everyone who didn't already know the truth gasped in unison.

"Preposterous!" Fudge exclaimed. "Pettigrew was a mediocre wizard on his best day. There is absolutely no way that he would've had the skill or…the wit…to become an animagus. It's simply impossible, unless…"

"He had help," Sirius finished. "And he did. James and I assisted him in becoming an animagus. We had been researching on how to do it since our third year until finally in our fifth year, we successfully became animagi. Peter's form is a rat, mine, a dog, and James's was a stag."

"Hold on, you are an illegal animagus?" Madame Bones asked.

"Yes," Sirius answered simply.

"So that's how you escaped…Well, that settles it, Cornelius…this man, Sirius Black, is innocent." Madame Bones said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Mr. Black," Fudge began. "As much as I hate to admit that the Ministry has made mistake, even I cannot deny…the evidence is indisputable…as soon as we get out of here, I will hold a press conference announcing your innocence any you will be given a full apology and one-hundred-thousand galleons as compensation," Fudge announced, straightening his tie.

Harry ran forward and into his godfathers welcoming embrace. "Sirius, you-you're free!" Harry exclaimed happily, joyful tears stinging the corners of his eyes. "I can't believe it! Does this mean I can come live with you now?"

"Only if you want to," Sirius smiled. "There's plenty of money in my family's vault. I can buy a nice flat…or, I suppose we could stay at my parent's house…yeah, never mind, I like the flat idea better…so, you up for it, Harry?"

"Did you even have to ask?" he said, as Sirius ruffled his hair. "This'll be great, Sirius!"

"Couldn't agree more, Harry," Sirius grinned, holding his godson tightly in his arms. "Maybe we can spend this summer making up for lost time…"

Harry didn't respond, he was too busy trying to process what had happened. He had never been so happy in his life. Sirius was officially a free man and better yet, he was going to live with him! It was as if all his childhood dreams had come true in one moment. After so many miserable years of loneliness and heartache with his relatives, he could finally be happy; he could finally have a family. _Family, _Harry thought as a single tear rolled down his cheek. _Is this what it felt like to have one?_ Letting out a sigh/sob, he buried his head into his godfather's shoulder, as if Sirius would disappear if he let go for even a moment.

"I love you, Sirius," Harry whispered almost inaudibly.

"Love you too, pup," Sirius whispered back. _Make up for lost time_, he thought, _I can do that. I owe Harry at least that much._ Silently, he made a promise to himself to make Harry's time with him the best time of his life. _For Lily and James…_

**_A/N_: Yeah, so I decided to rewrite this chapter after reading it again and realizing it wasn't well written. I hope you guys like the new material. Anyway, please review and thanks for reading, guys. I'm working on chapter 2 at this moment, so I'll have that up at some point in the not-too-distant future. **


	2. The Stranger

**I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't own Harry Potter...like, at all. If I had, I would've changed quite a few things**

**Chapter 2: The Stranger**

"So, now that that's out of the way," Harry began, pulling away from Sirius. "Does anyone know why we're here?"

"Beats me," Ron said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Ron…if Harry and I don't know why we're here and three of us were together when we were transported here, then it's safe to assume you didn't have anything to do with us being here," Hermione explained. "I'm sure when Harry asked if anyone knew why we were here he was talking directly to any figure of authority, like Professor Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall, as opposed to one of us. Am I right, Harry?"

Harry nodded, grinning. "Yes, but all that could've been explained in fewer words. I mean, this is Ron we're talking about."

"Hey!" Ron protested. "I resent that."

"More like resembles it," Fred and George joked simultaneously.

"Well done," they laughed, before high fiving each other.

Mrs. Weasley glared at the twins, effectively shutting them up.

"Okay, someone seriously has to know how we got here. We didn't just magically appear…" Harry sighed. "Let me rephrase that statement. It's unlikely that we just appeared in here for no reason."

"Harry raises a fair point. I mean, there are a fair amount of people in this room. One among us has to know how we got here and why?" Mr. Weasley pointed out.

"Well, if you would just give me as second…" an unfamiliar male voice said impatiently, before a tall, dirty-blonde haired man appeared out of thin air right next to where Harry and Sirius were standing. Wands flew from pockets like it was nobody's business. He was a teenage boy, probably no older than Cedric. He was dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt held his hands up in surrender. "Hey, no need for that. Just relax. I'm not here to hurt anyone." His voice was deeper than Harry's and he had an American accent

"Identify yourself, stranger," Sirius growled, pushing Harry behind him, pointing his wand directly at the kid's chest.

"The name's Alex, okay? We good now?" the teen asked impatiently.

"You got a last name, kid?" Sirius asked, gritting his teeth, sparks flying from the tip of his wand.

"Sirius…he's just a kid. Relax," Harry said, putting a hand on his godfather's shoulder.

Sirius shook off Harry's hand. "Do you have a last name, kid? I'm not gonna ask you again," he glared.

"Yeah, as a matter-of-fact, I do," the kid replied.

"Well?" Sirius asked expectantly. "What is it?"

"None of your business, that's what," the kid replied, smirking. "Look, Sirius, I did not travel all the way from Los Angeles to argue with you people."

"That's quite a ways," Dumbledore said, cutting off Sirius's angry retort. "To what do we owe the pleasure Mr…?"

"Alex…just Alex…" the boy said, smiling warmly at the old man. "And you're professor Dumbledore, right?"

Dumbledore nodded.

"What brings you across the pond?" Fred asked the stranger warily as he slowly brought his wand to his side.

"Just following orders…" the boy trailed off. "Look, I normally don't get a lot of details when it comes to missions. The Lieutenant normally just gives me enough intel to complete my mission and then I'm on my own."

"Hold on…" Sirius trailed off "Do you mean lieutenant as in…the Army?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah. This'll be my second year in the Service," he said, a shadow crossing over his face.

"Hold on, what would the American Military want with us?" Harry asked, looking confused. "This makes absolutely no sense. Why would the American Government care about what's going on over here?"

"Maybe they're worried about Voldemort," Ron offered.

"No, he's gone. They wouldn't have to worry about dark wizards," Harry replied.

"Really?" Alex raised his eyebrows.

"What?" Harry asked, bemused..

"You really believe that Voldemort is the only dark wizard out there. Ha. That's funny," Alex smirked, shaking his head.

"I mean, yeah, I'm sure there are other evil wizards out there that don't work for Voldemort, but isn't he the only one that's really a threat to, well, everyone?" Harry asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Alex said incredulously, shaking his head. "I feel like there's a new evil dark lord rising every other day. In places like Africa and the Middle East, dark wizards are surfacing all over the place, wreaking havoc all over the continent. In their wake, they leave a trail of famine, disease, drought, tribal wars…you have no idea how bad it is out there. At least you Brits have a relatively stable government. Corrupt to a fault, yes, but still stable. The wizarding communities in Africa are in complete anarchy. They have no one to lead them, to unite them against their enemies. It's sort of just every man for himself over there."

"Excuse me, you are blowing the conflict in Africa way out of proportion," Fudge said nervously. "I assure you people, everything is fine over there. It would be a waste to send any aurors there."

Anger flashed in Alex's eyes, but his expression remained calm. "No. I'm sorry, Minister, but that's complete bullshit." Before Fudge could interrupt him, he continued. "And here's why…I'm sure you all have heard about the genocide in Rwanda that took place last year…"

Almost everyone nodded. "Yeah, I remember reading something about it in the Prophet," Neville said timidly, surprising the people who had forgotten he was there. "But what does that have to do with-?"

"Hold on, I'm getting there," Alex interrupted. "Anyways, so around seven years ago, Nagid al Adham, a powerful dark wizard who is known by most as _The Witch-Doctor_, rose to power in Eastern Africa. Like Voldemort's hatred of Muggleborns, Nagid's hatred of one of Rwanda's minority ethnic groups known as the Tutsi burned in his soul like fire. He preached the extinction of the Tutsi to the wizards of Rwanda that belonged to the majority ethnic group called the Hutu. Due to the fact that the Hutu already carried a deep resentment for the Tutsi for many years, Nagid gained followers at a rapid pace and soon had enough supporters of his cause to start an uprising. The fighting, however, wasn't limited to just the wizarding government of the country, and in 1990, the muggles began fighting amongst each other, and as a result the uprising escalated to full on Civil War." He paused for a moment. There was a sort of pain in his eyes, a pain that, he noticed, constantly haunted Sirius's grey eyes.

"Early last year, the assassination the Hutu-government's leader, Juvénal Habyarimana, who, at the time, was trying to establish peace, issued a violent reaction from the Hutu, muggle and wizard alike. They began conducting mass-killings of the Tutsi in retaliation…" Harry noticed tears brimming at the corner of Alex's eyes. "For months, these mass killings of the Tutsi continued, raising the death toll to the hundreds-of-thousands (there were numerous gasps at this) before we knew it. Horrified, the U.S. wizarding leader ordered a large number of forces to assist the Tutsi; I was one of them. Anyways, my battalion was ordered to protect a large Tutsi village in southern Rwanda from enemy forces. There must have been around four-hundred of us. I know, it sounds like a lot, but you have no idea what Nagid and his army were capable of. Hell, none of us had a clue.

"About, oh, three weeks into our assignment, a large army of around six-hundred Hutu wizards, led by Nagid, himself, invaded the villiage…" he trailed off. Harry noticed a single tear ran down the soldier's cheek. "We didn't stand a chance… after slaughtering the entire village and a majority of my battalion, for some reason, Nagid and his forces fell back, leaving me and around a hundred-fifty other survivors to clean up the mess Nagid left behind…I lost a lot of good friends that day…and there were just so many bodies…it was a like a scene out of a horror movie…"

Harry looked around and saw that a lot of the girls were crying softly, even some of the guys had tears in their eyes. Harry, himself, was beyond furious. How could this have happened while the Ministry just sat by, doing nothing? Why didn't they send their own forces? Harry had a million questions and curses on the tip of his tongue, but out of respect for Alex, he remained silent.

"By the time the fighting stopped, there were an estimated one-million Tutsi dead. Nagid's forces were defeated, or at least a majority of them were, but Nagid, himself, was never found. Our government sent a small group of highly trained wizards to pursue him, but despite their best efforts, the trail went cold somewhere in Somalia. We believe he's hiding there, biding his time, waiting for his chance to unleash chaos again.

"My battalion's work, by that time, was finished, so we were sent home in time for Thanksgiving, or at least, the mere forty of us that remained were."

Jaws dropped. "Forty?" Neville asked quietly, looking unnaturally pale. "Out of four-hundred?"

Alex nodded. "Yes, forty men; no more, no less," he confirmed. "You would think going home was a blessing for us, but after all the horrors we'd seen over there…it was like we'd left part of ourselves back in Rwanda, almost like we'd died with the three-hundred-sixty of our men…I remember most of the guys were so jacked-up in the head they were booted out of the Army and sent to healers who specialized in dealing with returning soldiers with PTSD. A couple of the more stubborn guys, including my friend, Jimmy Doren…never mind, that's not important…

"I don't know how, but, somehow, I managed to keep it together. That doesn't mean that I didn't walk away with physical and mental scars, of course. I don't think any one of us was that lucky." He lifted his left sleeve to reveal a large area of pink flesh that extended from his elbow to his hand, and even though it had obviously healed, it still looked painful. Harry and the others couldn't help but wince at the grotesque sight. Alex lowered his sleeve and his arm fell to his lap. Snape recognized the scar immediately.

"Fiendfyre," he muttered tonelessly.

"How'd you know?" Alex asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Let's just say I have an extensive knowledge of the dark arts," Snape replied silkily. "I know the long lasting effects of fiendfyre when I see them."

"Ah. I take it you're a teacher then. Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"Potions, actually," Snape corrected. "I've been teaching potions for over thirteen years."

"Potions?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why would you teach potions if you're so knowledgeable about the dark arts? That doesn't make any sense."

"In all fairness, I'm equally, if not more, proficient in potion-making," Snape explained. "And it's very difficult to find an adequate potions master, so that just leaves me."

"Ah, I suppose that makes sense," Alex nodded. "So, as I was saying, around half of the soldiers in the battalion were honorably discharged. I, however, was able to stay in the Army since I wasn't hallucinating or waking up screaming like the others were. After they healed my burn the best they could and determined that I was fit for duty, I was deployed to the USWMC military base a couple of miles outside of Cairo. I was there for around a month until I received my latest assignment which is why I'm here now."

"I have one question…why haven't we heard about all of this?" Harry demanded. "We could be helping! We should be fighting!"

"You think your government isn't completely aware of the conflict going on in Africa? Please. According to them, we're doing just fine controlling the situation on our own," Alex said bitterly, throwing a disgusted look at Fudge. "In the meantime, our armies are getting slaughtered out there. The body count's just getting higher and higher with each passing day. More and more civil unrest…it's a mess out there, kid. And now with the rumors about Voldemort getting stronger…" he trailed off.

Harry's blood ran cold. "What do you mean rumors?" he asked, trying to keep his voice steady. "Is he back?"

"No. That's preposterous. You-Know-Who is dead. He has been for the last thirteen years," Fudge cut-in.

Alex ignored him. "No…well, maybe…I don't know…like I said, kid, all I hear are rumors. For all I know, none of it is true. It might be some asshole playing a prank."

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Oh, sorry, professor," Alex said sheepishly.

"That's quite all right, Alex," Dumbledore said cheerfully.

"Does this news not disturb you, Albus?" McGonagall asked, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. "I, for one, had no idea of what was going on."

"That'll be because Albus is one of our best strategists. Isn't that right, professor? Our president is even planning on giving Albus a larger role as one of the generals."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled."You know I couldn't possibly accept that offer, Alex," he smiled.

"I know, Albus, but the offer still stands. Your plans of attack have gotten my current unit out of more tight spots than I care to admit."

"Understood, Alex, however, allowing me to take such a high position of power would be…well, let's just say it wouldn't end very well."

Harry's mind was whirring. He wanted to ask so many questions. But Fudge beat him to the punch. "You're working for the Americans, Albus?!" he asked suspiciously, standing from his chair and pointing an accusing finger at Dumbledore. "That's…that's treason…"

Hermione was fuming. "For one, our two countries aren't at war, so no, it's not treason. Two, he is not an employee of the Ministry of Magic, and can therefore do whatever he pleases. And three, at least Dumbledore tried to help!"

"Dumbledore helped the US military without my consent," Fudge argued.

"Just shut the bloody-hell up, will you!" Ron shouted.

"How dare you talk to the Minister that way? You ungrateful little…" Umbridge roared, but was silenced by a flash of red light from Alex's wand.

At this, Fudge turned a dark shade of puce. "You'll pay for that," he growled. "You Americans are savages!"

"They're savages?" Sirius asked incredulously. "If I remember correctly, _you_ sat back like a coward and did nothing as one million innocent people were murdered in cold blood! One million people, Fudge! And you dare accuse others of being savages! Look in the mirror! You are cruel, corrupt, a bigot, and above all, an idiot, so you have _no_ room to speak, _Minister_._"_

Fudge sunk back in his chair at the harsh glares he was receiving.

Sirius turned away from Fudge and found Alex's gaze. "I thought that you had to be eighteen to join the military in America. You don't look a day over seventeen. How old are you, Alex?" Sirius asked, stroking his beard.

"Oh, are we on good terms now?" Alex asked sarcastically, shooting Sirius a glare.

Sirius sighed. "You're right. I acted like a total ass to you for no good reason. I just…yeah, the whole situation was just confusing…but I couldn't have been more wrong about you, Alex, and I'm truly sorry. "

Alex merely smiled. "Apology accepted. And to answer your question, I'll be twenty at the end of July," he said.

"I would say that twenty is too young to be fighting a war, but my school friends and I were battling Death Eaters at your age, so…" Sirius trailed off. "But you said you'd be twenty in July? That's close to Harry's birthday!"

"Really? What day's your birthday, Harry?" Alex asked, seeming to be in much higher spirits..

"July 31st," he answered.

"Looks like we share a birthday."

Harry smiled for the first time since Alex had appeared. "Sweet!" he grinned, giving Alex a high five.

Dumbledore, however, wasn't smiling. The cogs were whirring inside his head. Could this child be…no…it was impossible. He was born far too early. Still…

"This is all _very_ intriguing," Snape said in a bored voice. "We'll make sure to plan both of you a nice surprise party, but could you please skip ahead to why I'm stuck in a room full of people I greatly despise…" he threw a look at Sirius and Remus. "I'd greatly appreciate it."

"Oh, yeah, thanks for reminding me, Severus," Alex said, before taking out his wand, waving it around in a strange pattern, and whispering what sounded like a complicated Latin incantation. At first, nothing happened, but suddenly, there was a loud crack and seven books appeared on the table next to Harry. He looked up from the books to Alex, who was pale and sweating. "Man, that spell takes a lot outa you," he said, before taking a vial out of his front jeans pocket, putting it to his lips, and downing the entire thing. He shuddered at first, but as if by magic (see what I did there?), his face assumed its usual tan color.

"You brought us here to read?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Yes," Alex replied. Groans could be heard from around the room."But these are not just any books."

"What's so special about them?" Sirius asked, studying the books closely. "They just look like regular books."

"Well, Sirius, because these are books about him," he said, pointing a scarred hand at Harry.

**TBC…**

**Thanks for reading, guys. Sorry I haven't really been updating, but I've had writer's block for this story. Luckily, an idea just came to me today. Anyways, I hope you liked it. please leave a review, I'm a sucker for feedback good or bad.**


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